The Snivelling Shits

The Snivelling Shits
Origin London, England
Genres Punk rock
Years active 1977 – 1978
Labels Ghetto Rockers, Damaged Goods
Past members Giovanni Dadomo
Pete Makowski
Dave Fudger
Barry Myers
Steve Nicol
Steve Lillywhite
Ade Lillywhite
Lou Salvoni
Nick Howell (Ratbite)
John Ellis

The Snivelling Shits were a punk rock group formed in London in 1977, and centred on Giovanni Dadomo.

History

Giovanni Dadomo was a music journalist who wrote for publications such as ZigZag, Sounds, and The Face and New Music News.[1][2][3] In 1977 he recorded the novelty punk record "Terminal Stupid"/"I Can't Come", the latter described as "an iconoclastic mantra of amphetamine-induced sexual dysfunction",[1] backed by guitarist and fellow journalist Dave Fudger and various musicians including members of Eddie and the Hot Rods, and engineered by Steve Lillywhite, who also played bass guitar for the band.[2][4] Lillywhite's career as a record producer began to take off and Barry Myers, aka punk and reggae disc jockey DJ Scratchy took over on bass.[5] The single was released in late 1977. Dadomo resurfaced in 1978 under the guise of Arthur Comix, with "Isgodaman?" on the Beggars Banquet label compilation Streets. By 1979 The Snivelling Shits had become The Hits and were billed as such on the London club scene. "I thought we'd just shorten the name" said Dadomo to French musician, cartoonist and writer Bruno Blum, whose Motörhead Rock Commando comic strips (first published in France in Best) he translated to English for publication in New Music News and as a full colour comic book by Motörhead in 1980. [1][2] He recorded more material which was discovered in the late 1980s and released in 1989 as the I Can't Come album by Damaged Goods Records, described by Maximumrocknroll as "essential for music lovers and music haters alike".[2][6] He also co-wrote two songs with The Damned - "I Just Can't Be Happy Today" and "There Ain't No Sanity Clause", the latter of which appeared in demo form on I Can't Come.[2]

Dadomo also co-wrote the book New Women in Rock (1982, Delilah/Putnam) with Liz Thompson.

The I Can't Come collection has been described as "punk at its most pristinely putrid", with Allmusic writer Dave Thompson going on to say "the Snivelling Shits reduced every cliché of the era to as few chords as possible, then spattered them with a stupidity that would have been rank if it wasn't so magnificent".[1]

Dadomo died in 1997.

Discography

Singles, EPs

Albums

Compilation appearances

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Thompson, Dave "I Can't Come Review", Allmusic, Macrovision Corporation
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 Strong, Martin C. (2003) "Snivelling Shits", in The Great Indie Discography, Canongate, ISBN 1-84195-335-0
  3. ↑ Dadomo, Giovanni "Ghost in the Machine Review", The Face, reproduced at thepolice.com
  4. ↑ Robbins, Ira "Snivelling Shits", Trouser Press
  5. ↑ Whitfield, Greg (2004) "ROOTS AND WANDERINGS: SOUNDS OUT OF THE DIASPORA", 3:AM Magazine
  6. ↑ "The Snivelling Shits - I Can't Come" (review), Maximumrocknroll, Issue 227, April 2002

External links